Bradford & Bingley, one of the biggest buy-to- let banks, announces the winner of its Property Woman of the Year award this month at a lunch in London, presided over by Bond-girl- turned London-landlady Fiona Fullerton.

The stories of the eight regional finalists are inspirational. My hot favourite is Hasmita Reardon, who arrived in the UK from her native Uganda as a seven-year-old and had nowhere to live.

Today, 37 years on, the former nurse who left school at 15 owns 75 properties, which not only earn her a substantial monthly income, but also contain large amounts of equity.

Also in the running is Sylvana Young, a chartered surveyor, who owns 20 flats in London and also helps clients buy investment property. She has recently bought two vast tower blocks in Canary Wharf on behalf of clients at a cost of £400 million.

The finalists have two things in common: they all buy in locations they know very well – usually within five miles of their own home – and they all started buying several years ago. Hasmita Reardon bought her first properties in 1997.

These two factors have played a key role in their success. Rather than chasing dreams in Dubai, the Costa del Sol or Nicaragua (which is now being tipped as the next big thing), they invested in areas they know well. Added to that, they can easily keep their eye on their homes and their tenants as well as spotting tenant demand and buying opportunities.

Their timing also helped. When Hasmita started buying, everybody thought she was mad – and that includes her husband. She actually wanted to buy her first properties in 1994 but no bank would lend her money. Today, in spite of the credit crunch, it is far easier to get a buy-to-let mortgage than it was a decade ago, but the outlook for landlords looks far bleaker. Shares in Bradford & Bingley have plummeted in the past year and the numbers of arrears and repossessions on its books have climbed dramatically.

That does not mean there are not profits to be had. Finding them may be a little harder, but if the experience of the eight finalists is any guide, you should start looking on your own doorstep.